Kitty allowed Stryker's men to guide her free of the operating room, down a snaking hallway, to a private cell. The facility was eerily quiet, Kitty couldn't help but wonder what the operating theater was used for, stocked with sparkling steel equipment and tools.

The door to her new cell slammed shut, leaving her windowless with a single hard backed table. She sank onto the edge of the table, wincing, reopening the cuts along her knees. She dropped her head into her hands, eyes squeezed shut for a moment, cursing Victor, and herself for putting her trust in him. She straightened, something prickled the inside of her wrist. She rubbed the spot, frowning, fingers dipping inside the cotton of her shirt.

He'd slipped the key to the inhibitor cuff in between her skin and the fabric. She studied it, looking briefly down at her wrist, run bright with silver. He'd come back for her after all.

The better part of the next six hours was spent weighing her options against Victor's decisions, feeling the duel metals against her skin, the key and its lock. She practiced opening the cuff, releasing her mutation, and then caging it. Finally tucking both cuff and key into the top of her boots, wary of leaving herself vulnerable to Stryker's plans for her.

The door to her cell reopened well into the afternoon of the following day, revealing two heavily armed men, motioning her free. She was led along the same path of hallways, back to Stryker's operating room. He was alone, she scanned the twin rooms for Victor, coming up empty.

"Ms. Pryde."

"Where is he."

Stryker's brow lifted a fraction, something in her tone must have tipped him off.

"Anxious to see him."

She said nothing, waiting, expression frosty.

Stryker lifted a hand, indicating a small room, tucked nearly out of sight to her left. She moved towards it, opening the peephole slat, revealing an empty room and Victor.

He was sitting along the far wall, his eyes were flat, feral.

"What did you do to him."

Kitty felt a shiver, unbidden, unravel her spine.

"Answer me."

Stryker came to stand beside her, "He wanted to be stronger."

"He wanted an adamantium skeleton."

"I explained the risk," Stryker said, shaking his head. "He wouldn't listen."

"What's wrong with him."

"See for yourself."

He released the door, it slid open just far enough to Stryker to force her inside. She went stumbling forward, palms and knees catching on the concrete floors.

"Victor."

His expression was unreadable, nostrils flaring white, picking up her scent.

"It's me," she said quietly. "Katherine."

He unwound from the floor, straightening to his full height, looming, even five feet away, over her.

"Victor, please, it's me-"

His expression was unfamiliar, it was like being in a room with a stranger, she tried to steady her pulse.

"What happened to you," she said, palms flat to the door Stryker had locked into place at her back. Everything in the room was sterile and chrome, leaving Victor in stark contrast, even more monstrous.

"Come here."

His command was guttural, Kitty stiffened, even his voice had changed. He was a man unwound, tipping dangerously towards his animal instincts.

"What did he do, Victor," she said, desperately seeking some shred of his humanity. "What happened-"

"Told you to come here," he interrupted, voice rising a fraction, impatient. She took a steadying breath, moving a closer, holding his gaze.

"Victor."

There was a note of pleading in her voice, she was within arms reach, feeling the heat radiating from his body along her skin. He reached out, fingers tangled up in her hair, jerking her closer, nose to the side of her neck, "You have my scent all over you."

"I've been to your cabin," she said calmly, tears smarting the corners of her eyes at his roughness.

He leaned back a fraction, studying her, "You've been sleeping in my bed."

"Not yet," she countered.

"How about now."

She stiffened, his palm slid up her ribs to cup her breast. She panicked, heel finding his instep, scrambling backwards. He pursued her, snatching her up and slamming her into the wall, emptying her lungs, terrifying her.

"Victor-"

His hips married hers, pinning her flat to the wall, palming her breasts. She caught his wrist, fingers folding, trying to dissuade him, hesitant to phase and tip Stryker off to her newfound freedom.

"You want me."

She cried out, his touch growing rougher.

"I can smell it, little kitten."

Tears spilled onto her cheeks at his endearment.

"You promised," she said quietly, panic dissolving into defeat. "You promised me it would be on my terms-"

He stilled, eyes on her damp cheeks, expression unreadable. She was reminded, instantly, of their first night in the cabin.

"You were crying in your sleep."

"Crying-"

He remained perfectly frozen, fingers pressed to her ribs, black eyes hung on her upturned face.

"Look at me," she said softly, hands leaving his wrists, scaling his chest, carefully cupping his face. "You know me."

Her finger tips connecting to his cheeks surged a snarl from his lips, but she held fast, "I spent the last month sleeping in your bed, wearing your old t-shirts, drinking your whiskey."

She let those words sink in, watching him.

"I don't know what Stryker did to you, but you're not an animal, Victor," she said, ankle lifting, fingers falling, the key to the inhibitor cuff flashing between them, a testament to his humanity. "You're a man."

His gaze wavered between Kitty's face and the key, seconds ticked by.

"I know you," he said, finally, voice shuttled on rough vocal chords, hoarse, starting to sound something like himself. His head dipped, nose to her skin, then his mouth, she cried out as his incisors dug into the sensitive skin just below her ear. "You're mine."

Kitty jerked backwards, neck burning where he'd broken the skin, blue eyes widening a fraction.

"Victor-"

Before Kitty could say more the door to their right swung open, revealing a host of Stryker's men. They peppered a barrage of bullets into Victor's leg, sending him backwards, freeing Kitty to their rough hands. He roared, commanding them to let her go. Kitty phased, boot landing in one man's stomach, her fist arcing into another man's unprotected face. The butt of one man's gun glanced off her check, she spat blood, turning on him and taking him out.

Not halfway through the door Victor was on them claws slashing a line of red through the closest men. She stared up at him, gauging his sincerity, her safety in his hands, after Stryker's meddling. His black eyes were trained on her face, "I told you I wasn't going anywhere."

His breath was hot across her face, his fingers dug into her arms, she held perfectly still, uncertain whether she should kiss or kill him.

"We need to leave."

He lifted his head, assessing Stryker and his men, grunting his agreement. His hand shifted to Kitty's empty wrist, whispering a warning in her ear, "You'll regret leaving me here, little kitten."

She said nothing, the knowledge between them, that if she had any intention of leaving him behind, she would have done it already.

Stryker was ordering more soldiers, their boots echoing through the atrium. Inside the walls of the operating room Kitty could make out a lone figure, impressively tall in his white coat, black hair obscuring his face.

"Victor-"

"I see him."

A bullet ripped through Victor's arm, just above Kitty's shoulder, spraying them both with blood. She took a steadying breath, phasing them both as another bullet sailed towards them. It hit the wall at their back with a distinct thunk.

"Get us out of here," Victor growled.

She wiggled free of his grip, picking up his arm, expressionless as she pulled him through a series of chrome rooms.

"This is the end of the facility," Victor said, stopping short, staring down at her.

"Hold your breath," she instructed. With that she pulled him free of the facility into the solid earth surrounding it. It was pitch black, her hand on his arm anchoring him, pulling him along. When they broke the surface they were fifty feet from the outer fencing, close to where they'd cased the perimeter.

Victor pulled air into his lungs, chest rising and falling, noting the lingering panic in her eyes. The darkness had frightened the hell out of her, but she'd seen them through it. Impressed, in spite of himself, he snatched up her arm, pulling her onto her feet and towards the truck, "Come on-"

He navigated the sparse woods, pushing her towards the cab of the truck as he rounded the bumper. She ignored him, phasing clear through the tires and metal to meet him on the other side, "You bastard-"

She exploded his nose into a firework of blood.

"Jesus Christ-"

She was glaring up at him, vibrating with rage, hands clenched at her sides. He wiped blood onto the back of his sleeve, the bones in his nose already realigning. He must have read the urge to repeat the damage in her light eyes, issuing a singular command, "Don't fucking do that again."

"You lied to me."

"You didn't leave."

She took a step back at his words, the truth between them.

"You could have walked out of there whenever you wanted to," he continued, black eyes never leaving her face. "Why didn't you."

"Logan."

"Bullshit."

"Then tell me," she said, glaring. "Tell me, why."

"Me."

His declaration, mine, rose up between them, she felt panic like a vise. She twisted away, hands to her hair.

"I gave you the key," he said, snatching up her elbow, forcing her back around to face him. "I gave you your ticket out of that place, what the hell were you waiting for."

"You promised to tell me things-"

"I also promised to fuck you senseless," he said, their bodies suddenly flush. "Which one were you waiting for, baby."

She slated a glare at him, offering nothing.

"Get in the truck," he said, releasing her elbow, inclining his head.

"Fuck off."

"Don't be stupid," he warned quietly.

"I want to go home."

Victor was silent, regarding her, finally shaking his head, "There's not a chance in hell I'm letting you go."

"Victor-"

He delivered a singular chop to the back of her neck, rendering her defenseless. She slumped forward, into his arms, forehead pressed to the side of his throat. He maneuvered her into the truck, checking first her wrists, then waist, and finally her boots for the cuff. Jamming the key into the ignition, Victor pulled them back onto the road, leaving the tree and Stryker's facility behind them.